Monthly Archives: July 2014

Thursday through Sunday last week I’d been fighting a virus, and the last two of those days I rotated between my bed and the couch. Sunday morning I gated the family room doorway, turned on Curious George, and curled up on the sofa, praying the Little Butt wouldn’t climb the TV stand or do anything else too emulative of that little monkey he so dearly loves while I slept. The reminder of the day his daddy maintained order while I continued to veg.

Somewhere during Sunday night my fever finally broke, and between the bedsores taking over my hip area and the layer of grime taking over my kitchen floor (no reflection on My Guy—he cleaned up more thoroughly than me each night), I knew Monday would be different.

After downing two cups of coffee—my first since Friday, I might add—practicing yoga (with the occasional need to remove a child from under a pose), and enjoying a yogurt cup with Little Butt, we both got in gear and hunkered down to work. After setting him up at the sink with as little glassware at hand as possible and clear, repeated instructions not to touch the coffee pot, I went into my bedroom and began scouring the house from back to front.

Timeout number one commenced by 8:45. I walked into the kitchen to find the coffee pot full of water and a pile of grounds in the sink. He knows better. Off to the bedroom he went, where he and Silky Bear had ten minutes to sit in the crib and think about obeying. While I’m sure the vacuum cleaner blocked out some of the outcry, he did quite well. No tears ensued, and upon release he happily put all his friends back into bed where they belong.

Side note: It amazes me how children punish themselves in an effort to punish their parents. My feelings weren’t hurt to find the entire inhabitants of the Hundred Acre Wood on the floor, and that left Little Butt with no friends to commiserate.

As water play was now out of the question, I set Little Butt up in his room, dusting and playing in his tent. Before anyone thinks I’m expecting too much of a toddler, please note: he loves to clean. Not that he really accomplishes anything. But he tries.

Ten more minutes pass, during which I whip the family room into shape, vacuuming up the sad remains of handfuls of goldfish. I walk into the kitchen to put the vacuum away, only to find the Little Butt trying to screw the lid on a Ziplock container full of 30 ounces of water—water from the cooler he is not allowed to touch.

Timeout number two commences; this time Silky Bear, Pooh Bear, and all his friends survive the exile.

By this time the kitchen and bathroom floors have been washed, and Mommy is dripping sweat. Little Butt sees the chalkboard on his tall dresser and asks to play, Mommy agrees and gates the door in order to grab a quick shower. All goes well, and only one piece of chalk is smashed on the newly swept floor. I wonder once more why I even vacuum that room.

After cleaning up the messy room, it’s time for play-doh. Ten minutes later as we are cleaning up from this adventure, Little Butt decides to fill one of his yellow play-doh cups with—you guessed it—water from the cooler.

Girlfriend, this fall is going to be beautiful! The colors aren’t your traditional fall hues, but include some brighter and lighter tones, including—wait for it—pink!

Our number one color is sticking in the Radiant Orchid family, so you’ll see lots of purple everywhere. While it’s too calming to be considered a power color, it does convey a message: purple speaks of creativity and a wiliness to be different. And, as we all know, it’s often associated with royalty, which adds a sense of luxury to the hue.

Next in line is grey, but don’t go assuming it’s just for your clothes. Use the other colors on our pallet as your backdrop, and add grey in as an accessory: a scarf, some fun jewelry, or your bag. Grey is a professional color and gives an impression of stability and calm.

A hot, hot, hot color for fall is burgundy. This is such a fun jewel tone to work into your wardrobe. Being a member of the red family, burgundy is a power color but with more refinement. While still energetic, it has more warmth and maturity behind the power. Whereas red calls, “Look at me!” burgundy calmly states: “I deserve to be noticed.” And you do.

Cobalt is still on our pallet, with hues in the royal blue family as well as navy. Like grey, blue is a calming color and also invokes the impression that you are quiet but still dependable. A deep blue will prove classy in any situation.

And finally, we come to that pink I promised you, but it’s actually blush tones. Pink is a highly romantic color. It gives one the idea that you are safe, caring, and warm. Blush is soft and inviting. If this tone doesn’t work well for you as a clothing option but you like the idea of blush, try pairing a blush scarf or necklace with a color more suitable for you.

I hope you enjoyed this update and that it helps as you prepare for my favorite season of the year. Have a colorful day!

Last week at my company’s national convention, I had the privilege of hearing our President’s wife share her story. Peggy Horner is one of those women we all envy just a little, and if you’re like me, she intimidates you, too. Somewhere in her 50s (I’m guessing here!), she is petite, polished, and poised. Her smile is perfect and perfectly warm. Her tailored clothes are stylish and work as a perfect backdrop to her entire person and, of course, our jewelry.

In a nutshell, to my eyes Peggy Horner is everything I am not.

As I walked past Peggy in the Ft. Worth Convention Center Wednesday afternoon, I glanced at her in amazement. While I had spent the better part of a day traveling by both air and train and fully looked it, she was perfectly coiffed and taking part in a warm conversation.

Every hair in place.

Perfect posture.

Perfect, perfect, perfect.

Sometime either Wednesday or Thursday I made the remark that every Texas woman must go to finishing school. Where else do you come up with such poise and confidence? Suddenly I regretted my east coast heritage.

But when Peggy spoke Friday evening, she was that painfully honest woman we all want to have for a friend. It had taken her over six years to summon the courage to share her story, because when she looked out into the crowd of Premier Jewelers, she perceived only confidence while she felt insecurity. Peggy’s story included elements of abandonment at a young age, hurtful personal compulsions, and much loss. She shared how in her forties out of necessity she entered the workforce with no experience and filled with fear. The Horner family chose to invest in her and mentor her, both in her career and her personal life. And, of course, our President Tim Horner fell in love with and married her.

Hearing Peggy’s story hit me hard and keeps coming to mind. It’s not so much the exact events of her life; it’s the fact that I never have any right to judge another person. I do not know your story. And even if you share it, I’ll never know the exact impact each piece of the puzzle has made.

Most of our judgments stem from our insecurities. And our insecurities stem from where we have not embraced our own stories. Rather than shake my head in irritation at that outrageously annoying woman or envying the perfect ones, I need to take a step back and address the broken parts of myself. And if I get the chance, I should listen to their stories and share mine. Our honesty will make us safer, more gracious, more understanding women.

As I pack and prepare to attend my company’s annual convention, my brain is mostly mush. Between selecting outfits, thinking of all that’s on my to-do list, and anticipating the new jewelry, I somehow lack any ability to focus on anything.

So instead of some intelligent post, today I’m simply sharing with you some fun I’ve been having with my nail polish.

Last week while getting my hair done, I was brainstorming with my stylist Brittany about what color would work for all this week’s outfits. We settled on one of my favorites: a minty blue. She suggested trying a matte topcoat to make it more fun and edgy.

Here’s what a practice run with the matte topcoat looked like on last week’s manicure:

Either I purchased the wrong topcoat (it’s difficult shopping for something new with a cranky toddler, I tell ya) or I should have experimented on a fresh manicure. Probably both. Below are the various top coats I used. I’m new to Sally Hansen’s Triple Shine topcoat, but two people have recommended it in the past two weeks so I figured I should give it a try. Generally I’m skeptical of any nail products one can purchase at Walmart. I added the Seche Vite on top because I needed it to dry in a hurry. I have a toddler.

Here are my toes, completely rally ready.

I love how it’s acceptable these days for women in their 30s and beyond to do crazy colors and patterns. The base coat and different colors I used for my nails are:

I can’t draw worth a darn, yet I hail from a large family that boasts at least three artists. As in, one of them taught art and draws for fun these days (her trademark during family road-trips were caricatures of the drivers we passed), one who majored in art and makes his living that way, and one who just drew for fun but created enough nice works to hang them in her home.

Can you see why I feel a bit insecure about this?

It’s not for lack of trying that I can’t draw. My mom placed us in private art lessons during middle school with a fabulous local teacher. Well, we thought she was fabulous. She had one of those personalities that you either loved or hated. For me, art lessons in her sunroom studio were a treasured hour each week.

And yet, I can’t draw. Are you seeing a pattern?

Sometime in early May, My Guy and I were browsing around Barnes & Noble while sister number three (mentioned above) watched the Little Butt. As I nosed through the bargain section, I noticed a doodling kit. Hmmm, I thought. Anyone can learn to doodle, right? While I didn’t purchase the kit, I did jump on Pinterest that evening and do a search for doodling. Which led to Zen Doodle. Which led to Zentangle.

The next day, I was back in B&N, flipping through the art books and feeling quite refined. After all, cultured people shop that section, right? I grabbed a stack of Zentangle books and headed to the café. Coffee in hand, I finally settled on One Zentangle a Day and a sketchbook.

You can read all about the Zentangle method and its creation by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas here. But in essence, to create a Zentangle, you first learn different tangles (some call them patterns), then work them into a random piece of art on a 3 ½ by 3 ½ inch tile. Here are a few of my early works:

To create a Zentangle takes about 30 minutes. The Zen aspect is the idea that one loses all sense of time while tangling. Some view this as an opportunity to meditate, but for me it’s specifically to unwind, relax, and be still. I’m not too great at being still.

The proper tangling tools include tiles, a pencil, and a black Pigma Micron pen in size 01. But as I got more and more addicted, I added pens in sizes 005, 03, and 05 for when I need finer or thicker lines. I even went all crafty and sewed up this cute pen holder to keep the various sizes in order.

The heart I featured in my title picture is what is called Zentangle Inspired Art, or ZIA. I’ve created several of these to use as note cards for friends or simple doodles in my favorite planner.

Zentangle truly is something anyone can do. I’m quite pleased with my choice of starter book, but if you want to give this a try and feel like you need an instructor, you can find a find a Certified Zentangle Teacher (CZT) in your area here. Again, the One Zentangle a Day book makes self-teaching pretty simple, but you might prefer a different method than me.

I hope you give Zentangle a try! It makes me proud of myself and helps me relax, and I’d love the same for you.